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History · Onley

46% of Onley’s homes were built before 1940

0on the National Register
46%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: self · CC BY-SA 4.0

What stands out about Onley’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Onley are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Onley’s homes were built before 1956.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Onley’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Onley’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Onley came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Onley.

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The community was named after Onley, the estate of Governor Henry A. Wise.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Onley, decade by decade

Today6 recent
US Route 13 - Virginia2013US Route 13 - VirginiaUS Route 13 092505 9812007US Route 13 092505 981US Route 13 092505 9472007US Route 13 092505 947US Route 13 092505 10602007US Route 13 092505 1060US Route 13 092505 10582007US Route 13 092505 1058US Route 13 092505 10562007US Route 13 092505 1056
Famous people

Famous people close to Onley

Nobody well known was born in Onley itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

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Henry A. WiseUnited States Congressman and governor of Virgi… · b. 1806
Charles I. StengleAmerican politician · b. 1869
Thomas H. B. BrowneAmerican politician · b. 1844
Edward Southey JoynesAmerican scholar · b. 1834
J
Josh NolzAmerican soccer player · b. 1980
B
Barbara Bohannan-SheppardAmerican politician · b. 1950

Questions about Onley’s history

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

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Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (6), Wikipedia, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.